August 13, 2009

NFL Suspends Donte Stallworth for One Year: Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte Stallworth was suspended without pay for the entire season today for killing a pedestrian while driving drunk in Miami this March. "Your conduct endangered yourself and others, leading to the death of an innocent man," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell wrote in a letter to Stallworth. "The NFL and NFL players must live with the stain that you have placed on their reputations."

Was reading about this earlier on a Madden 10 thread on GameFAQ's of all places.

One interesting post I shall copy here and link too makes interesting reading as it puts some much needed perspective on it.

The victim was found at fault by police investigators for example.

I would strongly, strongly suggest that you read the details of the case before jumping to conclusions. I'll give you all the 'Cliff Notes' version:

1. The victim was found at fault by Police investigators and according to eye witnesses, he clearly ran between two packed cars, not at a stop sign or crosswalk and ran across the street.
2. This was not a hit and run. Stallworth stopped immediately, called the police from his cell phone and stayed with the man.
3. According to a source within the DAs office, if Stallworth did not have alcohol in his system there would not be any jail time and it is unlikely he would have been charged at all because he wasn't even speeding.

I think the main question we need to ask is why Roger Goodell thinks he should be the one to talk one the role of the justice system. Despite what you may think or believe Vick was a convicted felon with 2 years of jail time, Stallworth was not. Why should Vick get only 4 games, when Stallworth gets a whole season?

Our legal system found that Vick's crime was worse, it does not matter whether you agree with that or not... Roger Goodell is becoming a meglomaniac with his power.

Why should Vick get only 4 games, when Stallworth gets a whole season?

That would probably be because Vick did 2 years in a maximum security prison while Stallworth barely did a month for killing a guy.

According to a source within the DAs office, if Stallworth did not have alcohol in his system there would not be any jail time....

But isn't it the point that Stallworth did in fact have alcohol in his system regardless if the victim "ran between two pa{r}ked cars". That's like saying that former Nets star Jayson Williams would've never gotten arrested for shooting his chauffeur, Costas "Gus" Christofi and killing him with a shotgun if the gun never had any bullets in it.

So because O.J. Simpson played in the NFL, nothing else anyone does could stain the league? I don't think that's true at all. The NFL is the most popular sport in the U.S. and one of the most popular in the world. Stallworth's decision to drive drunk hurt the league's rep, as any such event would.

That would probably be because Vick did 2 years in a maximum security prison while Stallworth barely did a month for killing a guy.

It's not the job of the NFL Commissioner to correct inequities in criminal sentencing through suspensions.

Though Stallworth's actions after the crash are a mitigating factor that probably reduced his sentence, as did the undisclosed settlement that put the victim's family on his side, I don't think one year's suspension is excessive. He drove drunk.

It's not the job of the NFL Commissioner to correct inequities in criminal sentencing through suspensions.

Absolutely not, I agree. What I mean is that Stallworth drove drunk which lead to Mr. Reyes' death. Not to downplay what Vick did but we're comparing one man killing dogs to another man killing a human being.

I'd like to see Goodell give lengthy suspensions to anyone with a DUI regardless of whether anyone was injured or killed.

Why should Vick get only 4 games, when Stallworth gets a whole season?

Vick is getting an additional six games this season. He was suspended indefinitely from the NFL in August of 2007. Stallworth hasn't missed a game. Now, he has to miss 16 for his felony of DUI manslaughter. I think that is reasonable. Goodell is not going to retry the case to see how guilty Stallworth really was. He pled guilty to DUI manslaughter. His punishment is assessed based on the serious of that crime.

Not premeditated murder. And according to the way this happened, the pedestrian would been hit anyway- even if a sober person were behind the wheel.

The NFL commissioner is being a hard nose only because his predecessor was not.

But isn't it the point that Stallworth did in fact have alcohol in his system regardless if the victim "ran between two pa{r}ked cars". That's like saying that former Nets star Jayson Williams would've never gotten arrested for shooting his chauffeur, Costas "Gus" Christofi and killing him with a shotgun if the gun never had any bullets in it.

Florida's DUI manslaughter charge takes into account "causation," a defense for a drunk driver if the other party contributed to the accident. So if Stallworth's attorneys thought he could be found not guilty based on the pedestrian's actions, they could have gone to court rather than entering a guilty plea.

Here is the difference between Vick and Stallworth. Stallworth made a mistake and a man lost his life. The mistake as horrific as it is, was none the less a mistake and one he regrets. Vick on the other hand made a lot of mistakes and more than anything those mistakes were insightful as to the type of person he is.

Getting your kicks watching dogs tear each other apart, willingly electrocuting, smashing, murdering or torturing a living thing is more than a momentary lapse in judgement or mistake, it's incredibly insightful as to the character of the individual involved. This is someone I personally would not be interested in seeing have any success. I do not doubt that Mr. Vick is sincerely sorry he got caught, and I am sure he is sorry for what he has done as it relates to his career and family, and he has paid a resonable price for his actions, but his actions show a deeply rooted sadistic cruelty that is an obvious character flaw.

A team that hires Michael Vick is not giving a decent person a second chance they are giving a sadistic, cruel and immoral person an opportunity they do not deserve.

Here is the difference between Vick and Stallworth. Stallworth made a mistake and a man lost his life. The mistake as horrific as it is, was none the less a mistake and one he regrets. Vick on the other hand made a lot of mistakes and more than anything those mistakes were insightful as to the type of person he is.

I'd say there's a substantial difference in the definition of "mistake" in the two cases, at least as you're using it in the above paragraph.

Maybe not to you but it sure makes sense to me which is why I wrote it. If Stallworth would've just stayed home that night instead of leaving his home impaired, maybe he would've never been in this situation in the first place.